Firefox has been improving drastically in terms of performance with every release. It's pretty evident in recent months, which is very heartwarming to be honest.

I, however, do to some bad circumstances, have been stuck with a not-so-good laptop (8 GB RAM, a 6th gen processor in AMD A8 7410) and Firefox doesn't run that well on it. This is something that I've observed with Firefox- if you have a decent machine then it will run amazingly fast. However, on lower-end machines, performance can be a struggle AT TIMES.

Any tips on making this browser run at it's best potential on a weak system are appreciated!

  • Fisch@lemmy.ml
    ·
    11 months ago

    Installing an adblocker like uBlock Origin improves performance but aside from that I don't think there's a lot you can do

    • gordonthefatengine@lemm.ee
      hexagon
      ·
      11 months ago

      I already use uBO and it's terrific! But yes, I don't think much can be done because my old CPU is the main issue here and it can't be replaced sadly.

      • gordonthefatengine@lemm.ee
        hexagon
        ·
        11 months ago

        Hmm, you reckon? I do have another RAM slot empty (8GB (currently in use) + 8 GB (empty right now)).

        Seems like I should add more RAM to my laptop for now.

        • Fisch@lemmy.ml
          ·
          11 months ago

          Check how much RAM you're actually using when you use firefox. If you're not using all your RAM then adding more won't make a difference.

  • kanzalibrary@lemmy.ml
    ·
    11 months ago

    Thinkpad x200s (2009) with Core2Duo SL9400, 2gb RAM, 128gb SSD + AntiX Linux with herbsluftwm.

    Firefox will not perform smooth here, but very usable. I watch youtube video from Yewtube on Terminal + mpv, browsing only on Lemmy, news on Newsboat RSS feed, Palemoon if some news sources are heavy, and download with wget.

    IMO if you experiencing problem on Firefox with that spec, I think there's a problem with your Operation System or your OS is very hungry power. I recommended using Q4OS linux with pure profile installation for minimalist system out of the box in KDE environment. The performance are very good on my Thinkpad x260..

  • Lee Duna@lemmy.nz
    ·
    edit-2
    11 months ago

    I use this about:config settings to tweak FF performance on Android and Desktop

    browser.tabs.useCache: true dom.script_loader.bytecode_cache.strategy: 2

    browser.cache.jsbc_compression_level 0-9

    You can set the value to 5 for modest performance

    Note :

    I use thinkpad X240, Core i5 gen 4, 8GB RAM, 500 GB HDD, Windows 10 (debloated)

    • gordonthefatengine@lemm.ee
      hexagon
      ·
      11 months ago

      Seems like I've finally found a fellow human being who uses a modest system like me, haha. Similar specs, and I too use a debloated version of Windows 10- it works very nicely.

      Thanks for these recommendations- I'll try these out right now and see how it goes.

  • zoe@lemm.ee
    ·
    edit-2
    11 months ago

    replace ur hdd with a sata sdd.

    other frivolous measures tha could help: replace ur cpu thermal paste to avoid thermal throttling and make sure it makes good contact with heat sink+clean fan with brush

    format the hdd and reinstall ur os (especially if its windows)

    • gordonthefatengine@lemm.ee
      hexagon
      ·
      11 months ago

      I do have an SSD, and it's a huge improvement from an HDD no doubt!

      replace ur cpu thermal paste to avoid thermal throtltling and make sure it makes good contact with heat sink+clean fan with brush

      This I'd do! Thanks!

    • GrappleHat@lemmy.ml
      ·
      11 months ago

      This. Switching to Lubuntu from Windows would be like doubling your RAM because Lubuntu is very lightweight. I'd bet your main problem is running out of RAM.

  • bahmanm@lemmy.ml
    ·
    11 months ago

    I've got an old ThinkPad (2011 T530) and I run Linux (openSUSE Tumbleweed.) I haven't done any tinkering/tweaks and the performance is great.